Coldplay, Thanksgiving, and everything that's fit to print

COLDPLAY

The sassy lads from England did not disapoint.

Scot and I left the house on a chilly Phoenix night (70 degrees) for happy hour at Bamboo Club. After seared tuna, Kobe sliders, and a wee bit of beer (it's 30 miles to the venue) we headed out for the concert.

Dear friend Stacy works for a company that has box seats and primo parking, so she had hooked us up with passes to both. The seats were fantastic! After greeting Stacy, Wendy, Tina and others in attendance, the band came on. On the way to the show, I had a debate with Scot over what song the band would open the show with. Only it wasn't really a debate as Scot wasn't knowledgable enough to discuss such a serious matter, nor did he give two hoots. Scot was going to the show as my date, not a fan. While he isn't opposed to Coldplay, he does feel they lack the second ball necessary to make them men. I had vacillated between "Lost", and "Viva La Vida", for the opener. But I knew this album had a definite beginning and an end, and they might want to stay consistent to the storytelling buildup and denouement. Therefore, the only logical choice for the opening song would be "Life in Technicolor". And it was. The song started and I got the chills. I ran down to the partition and became acutely aware that I was in the midst of my second religious experience. Wouldn't you like to know what the first was? NO, not my baptism or First Holy Confession- U2's last concert. Dear me, I am going on here. At any rate, it was wonderful.

THANKSGIVING

The whole fam rolled in around 2 p.m. Mom brought assorted salads and was given the responsibilty of Gravy Master. Sister brought the turkey, Jack Daniels Pecan Pie, and stuffing. Most importantly, Julie brought the Boggle. Immediately we set up the outside table with pads, pens, the Boggle game and beer. My mom served as Beer Wench and kept refilling my wine glass. I'm pretty sure she never got me on the proper footing to be a doctor back in my school days, as she certainly seemed genuinely happy to dumb me down with beer during a heated Boggle match. Not surprisingly, my smart niece and ultra-smart nephew schooled all of us when it came to the word-search game. I'd like to think my senses were dull from the drink, but the reality is that I've never been a game-winner. Then we had turkey, dessert, and everyone went "bye bye." Okay, so it was a little more involved than that, but that's the good part, isn't it? I don't know why we bother with all the pomp and circumstance. Let's just get together, play games, and drink.

Gotta run. Too much to do online right now. Shopping, Christmas cards, researching biochemical warfare, etc.